Sunday, 13 March 2011

Famous Faces’ Favourite Fancies - Lemon drizzle cake

Fanfare please as I launch a new feature on my site: Famous Faces’ Favourite Fancies! I have written (for my younger readers by “written” I mean composing a letter, printing it on paper, putting it in an envelope and using the postal system, not asking via Twitter or Facebook!)to some of the country’s most famous faces and asked them what their favourite cake is. I have received gruff refusals from some (you know who you are!) but thankfully a larger amount of lovely replies and it is these that I shall feature periodically on my site.

My first Famous Face sharing his Favourite Fancy is the Mayor of London Boris Johnson. Probably Britain’s most well-known personality politician, he is as controversial as he is hilarious (just reading through the wikipedia account of his appearances on satirical news quiz “Have I got News for You” made me laugh out loud). What’s not to love about anyone who says, when talking about his one week spent as a management consultant, “Try as I might, I could not look at an overhead projection of a growth profit matrix, and stay conscious.”

Boris Johnson has chosen lemon drizzle cake as his Favourite Fancy. The lemon drizzle cake I have made is light and juicy – from not only the lemon juice but also the inclusion of ground almonds.

For the drizzle I used a combination of caster sugar and icing sugar; this is because icing sugar will seep into the cake whereas the caster sugar will sit on top and add a lemony crystallised topping. In other words, using two sugars provides the best of both worlds!When pouring the drizzle over the cake it’s a good idea to put a piece of paper or foil under the rack so as to protect your work surface; it also makes cleaning up easier as you simply dispose of the mess along with the paper/foil.

Pondering what plate to set the finished cake on, Mr CC pointed out that it had to be my “London map” plate, given that the cake was inspired by Boris Johnson. Mr CC is very useful to have on hand at such moments!

Finally, I end with an apology to Boris. A few months ago, at the traffic lights on the north side of London Bridge, I tried to nip across the road as the traffic lights were changing. Who came hurtling towards me on his bike –at a frankly startling rate of knots - white-blond hair sticking out from his cycle helmet? You’ve guessed. I am pleased to report that he was a perfect gentleman and didn’t swear at me or gesticulate. Sorry about that Boris...hope this recipe makes up for it!

2 lemons – zest and juice2 tablespoons caster sugarIcing sugar – enough to make a runny icing; the quantity required will depend on the juiciness of your lemon!

Method

Preheat the oven to 180˚C/fan oven 160˚C/350˚F/Gas mark 4.

Line a 20cm round springform tin with baking paper.

Beat together the butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy – don’t be tempted to skimp on this stage; the mixture needs to be pale and whippy.

Stir in the lemon zest.

Beat in the eggs on at a time, add a little of the flour if it looks like the mix might curdle. (If you’ve beaten the butter and sugar for long enough nothing should curdle).

Fold in the flour and baking powder.Fold in the ground almonds and lemon juice.

Spoon into the prepared cake tin and level the surface.

Bake for approximately 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Mine took 1 hour 5 minutes.

Put the cake, still in the tin, on a wire rack and leave to cool for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the drizzle glaze: Place the lemon zest, juice and caster sugar in a bowl and beat in enough icing sugar to make a thin, extremely runny icing. (The reason for using caster as well as icing sugar is that the caster won’t sink into the cake and leaves a lovely light sugar crust on the top of the cake).

Remove the cake from the tin and place it back on the wire rack.

Place a sheet of baking paper or foil under the wire rack.

Slowly pour the glaze over the top of the cake taking care to ensure that the whole top and sides are covered, and then leave to cool completely before storing in an airtight container (it will keep for several days).

25 comments:

What a fantastic idea! I do think Boris Johnson is hilarious and I think it's lovely that you got a reply about his favourite cake.

The cake itself looks delicious, and thank you so much for that tip about using 2 sugars- I had so much difficulty getting the icing right on the drizzle cakes I made recently, so next time I'll be using this recipe.

What a great idea - I can't wait to see who else you are going to feature and what they've chosen!

This looks like a great recipe to start with - moist and delicious. I'll definitely remember the tip about using the combination of icing sugar and caster sugar - to allow some to seep in but get a crunch too - fab!

What a great idea CC! I thought Boris was fab on Have I Got News For You. So funny. He really missed his calling in life. You cake as always is lush and makes me want to run off and make it instantly! Good tip about the icing too :)

I think Boris puts on a wonderful act. If he was really as bewildered and fumbling as he comes across, he couldn't actually function in society, never mind become Mayor of the largest city in Britain. Lovely looking cake though.

Boris' brand of humour always was a bit of a hoot.Cake looks lovely - even though I'm not so into lemon flavoured cakes! This looks way too yummy to miss having a go at.Great post crusading cake maker.....Roze

This is so close to the recipe I use, but I like your addition of ground almonds - I'm going to try that next time for even more moisty goodness!

Also - instead of having to put paper underneath when you pour the drizzle over, you can just pour over the cake while it's still in the tin - it will pour down the sides, and dry in there, and you won't need to clean anything else up!

I've been reading your blog for ages and have never commented for some reason. Anyway I just wanted to mention that I think Boris Johnson is absolutely fab and so is this cake! Oh and I should also mention that I have your swiss meringue buttercream recipe memorised from constant use! As Boris would say, "Well done, chaps!"

This is a very good version - I've never had much luck with lemon drizzle cakes, mainly I find them too wet, or too dry. This icing mostly sits on top and is pleasantly crunchy and the almonds see off any possibility of it being dry. I've made it three times since this post and it has had the honour of being printed off and put in a plastic wallet marked "make again"...not many cakes get that (one of your sticky ginger ones is keeping it company!).

I have only just come across this blog but I think I'll be visiting often now. Just made this cake yesterday and by evening it was all gone. I had hoped to have seconds today but no such luck. I love Lemon Drizzle but this has to be my favourite version. So moist and the sweetness and tartness perfectly balanced. Going to try the ginger cake next. Thanks for a fab recipe.

Read this great novel!

Look at this great website

Follow my ambitious attempt to find a recipe for a cake, biscuit, pie or tart for every single one of the 39 traditional English counties!

The Caked Crusader and Boy Wonder

Cartoon by Cakeyboi

About Me

So, the answer to the question you’re all asking: who am I? Well, a superhero never reveals their identity. I think it’s stated somewhere in the contract when you sign up for superhero-dom. Let’s just call me THE CAKED CRUSADER. By day (and night if I’m being honest) a mild-mannered City professional, but at weekends I become THE CAKED CRUSADER. Tirelessly fighting anti-cake propaganda and cake-related injustices – for SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE, ALWAYS NEEDS CAKE (we’ll just skip over the fact that it’s usually me).

Batman’s got the batmobile, batcave etc. Superman does just great what with being able to fly and being really strong. Spiderman’s got that web thing going on. But I have better than them. For I have a credit card and could get one of these:

The purpose of my blog is simple – to spread the word that CAKE IS GOOD.Yes, it is calorific; that is why it tastes so nice.Yes, too much of it is bad for you; that’s what ‘too much’ means.Yes, we’re all told to eat healthily and we know that we should. But ask yourself this – and look very deeply into your soul before answering – when has a cup of tea and a carrot ever cheered you up? However, put that carrot into a cake and happiness will ensue. Quod erat demonstrandum – CAKE IS GOOD.

This site will catalogue cakes I have unleashed unto the world and my thoughts thereon.

By the way, I will never recommend how many portions you should get out of a cake because we’re all different. Plus, it will be very embarrassing when I say it serves 4 and you get 20 portions out of it.

WARNING: Too much time spent on this blog may cause hunger.

Privacy notice

The Caked Crusader blog does not share personal information with third-parties, nor does it store or use information collected about your visit to the site other than to analyse content performance. I am not responsible for the republishing of the blog’s content on other websites or media without my permission. This privacy policy is subject to change without notice.

Cake Achievement in Film and Television Arts (CAFTA)

Have you seen a cake in a film or tv show that deserves recognition? Has a cupcake upstaged a beefcake?

If so, please let me know and that cake could win a coveted CAFTA award. Email me your suggestions, with a photo of the cake if possible.

About Me

I am a 40-something Chartered Accountant working in the square mile.
My main hobbies at the moment are baking, and setting the world record for the number of cake tins owned by one person.
I spend far too much time watching Spongebob Squarepants and would love to try a Krabby Patty...I know, I know - it's not real.